South Africa: Sexual Violence

Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress he is making on tackling sexual violence in South Africa.

William Hague: Levels of gender-based violence in South Africa are among the highest in the world. The UK Government has committed £4 million to working with the South African Government, UN agencies, and civil society to tackle the root causes.

Bahrain

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the Bahrain government's implementation of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry's recommendations in the last 12 months for which information is available.

Alistair Burt: Our ambassador and his team regularly discuss implementation of the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) and the UN Human Rights Council Periodic Review with the Government of Bahrain, including the Minister for Justice, who heads the BICI Follow-Up Unit. The Unit published two reports last year, detailing progress made since the BICI presented their recommendations to HM the King in November 2011. While progress has been made in certain areas, there is still more to be done and we continue to raise this with the Bahraini authorities. We support the reforms already under way, and will continue to provide targeted and practical assistance to help bring long-term stability to the Kingdom.
	I welcome the ongoing National Consensus Dialogue and encourage all sides to play an inclusive and constructive role in the process.

Bahrain

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received following the inclusion of Bahrain as a case study in his Department's 2011 Human Rights report, published in April 2012.

Alistair Burt: I regularly meet a variety of organisations to discuss human rights in Bahrain, as do officials at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the ambassador and his team in country. These meetings include human rights organisations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International; the Bahraini Government; the Bahraini opposition; other political societies; members of the Bahraini Parliament; and Bahraini civil society.
	I believe the Government of Bahrain remains committed to improving its human rights record, including full implementation of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry and the UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review. However, as I continue to voice both in private and in public, more needs to be done. Our decision to include Bahrain as a case study in 2011 FCO Human Rights Report, and to do so for the 2012 Report, reflects our view of the current trend of events and concerns.

India

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the protection of Christians and other religious minorities in India; and if he will make a statement.

Hugo Swire: There continue to be incidents of discrimination against religious minorities, including Christians, in India. In response, the Indian Government has a range of policies and programmes to support religious minorities.
	I discussed issues of discrimination against minority communities with Indian human rights organisations during my visit to India in March. The British high commissioner in New Delhi also met the Indian Minister for Minorities on 7 March to reinforce our concerns.

North Korea

Chris Skidmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government is taking in response to the recent actions of North Korea.

William Hague: Our assessment remains that there is no immediate risk to British nationals living or travelling in the Korean peninsula. But North Korea's rhetoric and behaviour poses a serious risk to the stability of the region, which includes several of the world's largest economies.
	The impact of miscalculation by the North Korean regime could extend well beyond its region. That is why the international response must remain clear, calm and united.

Sexual Offences

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what criteria will be used to determine which countries to deploy experts to as part of the preventing sexual violence initiative.

Mark Simmonds: When considering a deployment, we take a number of factors into account, including the extent and impact of sexual violence, the national and international response to date and the particular role the UK can play in reinforcing or complementing existing efforts. We also consult closely with the UN and other organisations working on the ground to determine how, and where, the team will be of most assistance.

Sri Lanka

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Sri Lankan government since the UN Human Rights Council resolution on political reconciliation in that country.

Alistair Burt: I met with the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister on 22 April. I made clear that the UK expected Sri Lanka to improve its human rights record. The UK supported the March 2013 UN Human Rights Council resolution on human rights in Sri Lanka because it reflects our concern over insufficient progress in post war reconciliation and lack of accountability for alleged violations of international law during the war. I also raised recent attacks and restrictions on the press and urged swift action to investigate incidents and ensure freedom of reporting.

Syria

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) the US, (b) the EU and (c) France; and what comparative assessment he has made of the policy towards Syria of the UK and those foreign policy factors.

Alistair Burt: Syria is an international problem, and demands an international solution. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), discusses the issue frequently with counterparts in the US, France, EU institutions, and indeed many other countries from around the world. He spoke about Syria in detail with all the states outlined above within the last few days, many of them at a meeting of the Core Group of the Friends of Syria. We share a common aim: an end to the killing and a more stable and democratic Syria. And we share a common understanding of how to achieve it through increasing our support to the moderate opposition—which made a clear statement at Istanbul last weekend about their commitments, including distancing themselves from extremism—and putting pressure on the Assad regime.

Antisocial Behaviour

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many responses from members of the public to her Department's 2011 consultation on anti-social behaviour proposed the abolition of the Anti-Social Behaviour Order.

Jeremy Browne: The 2011 consultation sought views on the proposed new powers to deal with antisocial behaviour, not specifically on the repeal of the antisocial behaviour order. 425 members of the public responded to the consultation. Of these, 40% thought the proposed new powers would be more effective and only 9% thought they would be less effective than the current measures.

Antisocial Behaviour

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many responses from front-line professionals to her Department's 2011 consultation on anti-social behaviour proposed the abolition of the Anti-Social Behaviour Order.

Jeremy Browne: The 2011 consultation sought views on the proposed replacements for a number of powers available to deal with antisocial behaviour, not specifically on the repeal of the antisocial behaviour order. 547 front-line professionals and organisations representing their interests responded to the consultation. Of these, 57% thought the proposed new powers would be more effective and only 9% thought they would be less effective than the current measures.

Deportation: Offenders

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department of those foreign nationals who successfully appealed their deportation under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007, 
	(1)  what (a) crimes they were found guilty of and (b) length of custodial sentence they had served in each year since the implementation of the Act;
	(2)  what (a) offences they were found guilty of and (b) what length of custodial sentence they received in each year since the implementation of the Act.

Mark Harper: The following table shows the number of foreign national offenders (FNOs) who were successful in their appeal lodged against section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007.
	
		
			 FNOs who were successful in their appeal lodged against section 32 of UK Borders Act 2007, between 1 August 2008 and 31 December 2012 
			  Length of custodial sentence 
			 Offence type <1 year >=1 year and <3 years >=10 years and <15 years >=3 years and <10 years 15 years+ Total 
			 Alteration/possession of a false document 1 28 1 — 9 39 
			 Armed robbery — — — 1 — 1 
			 Arson — 6 — 5 — 11 
			 Arson with intent to endanger life — — — — 1 1 
			 Assisting an offence 1 6 — 1 — 8 
			 Attempted murder — — 1  — 1 
			 Attempted rape (adult or minor) — — — 1 — 1 
			 Attempting/perverting the course of justice (including threatening jurors/witnesses/tampering with evidence) — 9 — 1 — 10 
			 Behaviour (including bomb hoaxes/threats to kill etc.) — 1 — 1 — 2 
			 Breach of conditions 1 3 — 1 — 5 
			 Breaches of the peace (affray, rioting) — 14 — 2 — 16 
			 Burglary (aggravated/breaking and entering) — 28 — 11 1 40 
			 Conspiracy (defraud/murder/kidnap) — 8 — 9 — 17 
			 Copying a false instrument — 1 — — — 1 
			 Crimes against a minor (all other not listed) — 2 — 1 — 3 
			 Criminal damage — 2 — — — 2 
			 Death by dangerous driving — 1 — 3 — 4 
			 Deception (pecuniary advantage/property/services) 2 19 — 4 3 28 
			 Drugs — — — 1 1 2 
			 Drugs—Production — 24 — 13 — 37 
			 Drugs—Being knowingly involved in the supply/production of drugs 1 46 — 41 — 88 
			 Drugs—Importation of controlled drugs — 11 1 12 1 25 
			 Drugs—With intent to supply 1 71 — 82 — 154 
			 Facilitating gaining leave by deception — 2 — — — 2 
			 Facilitating illegal entry — 3 1 2 1 7 
			 False imprisonment 1 7 — 3 — 11 
			 False reps to obtain support — 1 — — — 1 
			 False statement to get marriage licence — 1 — — — 1 
			 False statement to register marriage — 1 — — — 1 
			 Firearms (other then poss/use offensive weapon) — 2 — — — 2 
		
	
	
		
			 Forgery — — — 1 — 1 
			 Fraud/embezzlement 2 49 — 15 1 67 
			 Handling stolen goods — 8 — 4 — 12 
			 Illegal entry — 2 — — — 2 
			 Indecent assault 1 2 — 2 — 5 
			 Indecent assault on a minor — 4 — 1 — 5 
			 Kidnapping and attempted 1 2 — 1 1 5 
			 Making false statements/representations — 3 — — — 3 
			 Manslaughter — — — 1 — 1 
			 Money laundering (drugs criminal and immigration) — 3 — — — 3 
			 Motoring offences other — 2 — 3 — 5 
			 Motoring offences serious — 2 — 1 — 3 
			 Murder — 1 — — 2 3 
			 Obstruction of an immigration officer — 1 — — — 1 
			 Offences against the person (assault) 1 13 — 2 — 16 
			 Offences under Sex Offenders Act — — — — 1 1 
			 Possession and or use of false instrument 3 200 — 2 24 229 
			 Possession and or use of offensive weapon (firearm offences) — 6 1 9 — 16 
			 Possession and or use of weapon (non firearms) — 2 — — — 2 
			 Possession/use of offensive weapon — 11 — 3 1 15 
			 Racially motivated crime (except attempted/murder violence) — 1 — — — 1 
			 Rape — — 2 10 1 13 
			 Rape on a minor — — — 3 — 3 
			 Revenue and customs case (other than drugs) — — — 1 — 1 
			 Robbery (including street) 1 55 1 54 1 112 
			 Seeking/obtaining leave by deception — 2 1 — — 3 
			 Sex offences against children not listed elsewhere — 5 — 6 — 11 
			 Sex offences not listed elsewhere 2 12 — 7 — 21 
			 Terrorist offences — — — 1 — 1 
			 Theft 1 26 1 3 2 33 
			 Violent crime (including ABH/GBH) 4 77 1 29 4 115 
			 Total 24 786 11 354 55 1,230 
			 Notes: 1. All figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols. 2. The UK Borders Act 2007 came into force on 1 August 2008. Consequently, figures relate to the period 1 August 2008 to 31 December 2012.

Deportation: Offenders

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department of those foreign nationals deported under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007, 
	(1)  how many unsuccessful appeals there were using (a) the European Convention on Human Rights and (b) the Refugee Convention in each year since the implementation of the Act;
	(2)  of those foreign nationals deported under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007 who unsuccessfully appealed their deportation using the European Convention on Human Rights, which articles of the Convention were used as part of the appeal in each year since the implementation of the Act;
	(3)  of those foreign nationals who successfully appealed their deportation under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007, which articles of the European Convention on Human Rights were used as part of the appeal in each year since the implementation of the Act;
	(4)  how many foreign nationals deported under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007 sought to use Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights to appeal their deportation in each year since the implementation of the Act;
	(5)  how many foreign nationals that successfully appealed their deportation under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007 used Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights as part of their appeal in each year since the implementation of the Act.

Mark Harper: In relation to PQ 150388, PQ 150389, and PQ 150391, data on unsuccessful appeals against deportation are held only at the level of co-ordinated paper case files or within the notes section of the Case Information Database (CID). Such data are not aggregated in national reporting systems, which would mean these questions could be answered only through a disproportionately expensive manual case search to collate the data.
	With regard to PQ 150390 and PQ 150392, figures on the number of foreign national offenders (FNOs) who successfully appealed against deportation under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007, are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 FNOs who were successful in their appeal lodged against section 32 of UK Borders Act 2007, between 1 August 2008 and 31 December 2012 
			 Number 
			 Grounds of appeal 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Total 
			 Human rights—Article 2 and 3 — 12 17 19 4 52 
			 Human rights—Article 3 1 7 8 11 1 28 
			 Human rights—Article 3 and 8 (with or without other articles) — 25 102 128 100 355 
			 Human rights—Article 8 4 144 225 185 151 709 
			 Appeals allowed—Other 3 30 27 9 5 74 
			 EEA Regs — 2 6 3 1 12 
			 Total 8 220 385 355 262 1,230 
			 Notes: 1. All figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols. 2. The UK Borders Act 2007 came into force on 1 August 2008. Consequently, data for calendar year 2008 cover the period from 1 August to 31 December 2008 only.

Deportation: Offenders

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals (a) were deported and (b) successfully appealed their deportation under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007 in each year since the implementation of the Act.

Mark Harper: The following table shows how many foreign national offenders (FNOs)—were deported and successfully appealed their deportation under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007 in each year since 2007.
	
		
			  2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Grand total 
			 FNOs Deported Under Section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007 109 1,704 2,324 1,921 1,884 7,942 
			 FNOs successful in their appeal lodged against Section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007 8 220 385 355 262 1,230 
			 Notes: 1. All figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols. 2. The UK Borders Act 2007 came into force on 1 August 2008. Consequently, data for calendar year 2008 covers the period from 1 August to 31 December 2008 only.

Human Trafficking

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 26 March 2013, Official Report, column 1147W, on human trafficking, if she will list the Government departments and agencies involved in work to combat human trafficking; and how much each department and agency spent on such work in each of the last three years for which information is available.

Mark Harper: The inter-Departmental Ministerial Group Report on human trafficking includes details of the departments and agencies working to combat human trafficking. Expenditure by each Department and agency on work to combat human trafficking is not recorded separately or centrally.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she intends to reply to the letter to the Minister for Immigration dated 5 March 2013 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr S Ullah.

Mark Harper: I wrote to the right hon. Member on 16 April 2013.

Sexual Offences: Victim Support Schemes

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the announcement by the Director of Public Prosecutions that the Crown Prosecution Service will be re-opening historic sexual abuse cases, what plans she has to increase funding for independent sexual violence advisers.

Jeremy Browne: The Home Office currently provides £1.72 million per year to part-fund 87 Independent sexual violence adviser posts across England and Wales. This level of funding will continue to 2015.
	The Government is committed to ensuring that victims of these heinous crimes have access to the support they need. In February, the Ministry of Justice announced it will continue to fund rape support centres until 2015, giving existing centres a stable financial future and allowing new centres to be established.

Baroness Thatcher

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office for what reason his Department rather than the Department for Culture, Media and Sport organised the funeral of Baroness Thatcher.

Francis Maude: The preparations for the funeral of Baroness Thatcher began under a previous Government. The Cabinet Office performed its usual central/coordinating role.

Business: Ethnic Groups

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many working hours officials in his Department spent in connection with its review of barriers faced by some black and ethnic minority entrepreneurs in accessing business finance;
	(2)  how much his Department has spent producing its draft review of barriers faced by some black and ethnic minority entrepreneurs in accessing business finance;
	(3)  what consideration he has given to his Department's draft review completed prior to 19 April 2012 of barriers faced by some black and ethnic minority entrepreneurs in accessing business finance; and if he will make a statement.

Don Foster: The Deputy Prime Minister commissioned the Department for Communities and Local Government to lead a cross-Government review into the barriers being faced by ethnic minority businesses in accessing finance in November 2011.
	DCLG have been working closely with other Government Departments, the banking sector and ethnic minority business groups to conclude the review. A report into the review will be published shortly.
	Apart from staff resource, no public funds have been committed to this review. No record is kept of staff time.

Empty Property: Shops

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how could groups such as the Lifford Business Association bid for the High Street Fund if they did not receive any of the funding allocated through their local authority.

Mark Prisk: I refer the hon. Member to my answer today to PQs 151216, 151217 and 151218. In March 2012 DCLG issued the High Street Innovation Fund to the 100 designated local authorities and it is up to them how to distribute the money in their areas. In October 2012 Government also provided funding to councils to support the work of Town Team Partners. As part of that initiative, Birmingham city council were in receipt of £10,000 as the accountable body for Lifford Business Association, who were one of the 333 town teams who registered to become a Town Team Partner. I advise the town team to speak to their council if they have not received this funding.

Local Government Services: Armed Forces

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what additional funding he plans to provide for local authority services as a result of the return of British forces and their families from Germany.

Brandon Lewis: The Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), announced on 5 March 2013 the Regular Army Basing Plan and the return of troops from Germany, detailing the Government's intention to invest £1 billion in accommodation for returning members of the armed forces.
	Councils will retain all the yearly council tax revenue raised from new, existing and refurbished dwellings. Military housing also qualifies for the New Homes Bonus, so councils would receive this further funding stream on top for additional dwellings. Non-residential military buildings are liable for business rates, so councils would also benefit from any new hereditaments under the local retention of business rates.

Urban Areas: Regeneration

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what steps he has taken to ensure that the High Street Innovation Fund is used to support high streets and not absorbed into local authority budgets;
	(2)  what support his Department provides to local authorities on the best use of High Street Innovation funds;
	(3)  how much of the High Street Innovation Fund has been allocated; and how much of this fund is classified as underspend.

Mark Prisk: The Government is committed to help revive the nation's town centres and as part of its response to the Portas review has given £10 million to 100 local authorities in England to support their efforts to bring empty properties back into use and rejuvenate their high streets. The High Street Innovation Fund was allocated to local authorities with a high number of empty properties and to those affected by the riots. Local authorities were encouraged to use this fund to leverage further financial support and to use a wide range of tools to revitalise their high street, including increasing business rate discounts, simplifying planning rules and working with landlords to support new occupiers.
	No central data are collected on the use of the High Street Innovation Fund reflecting the fact that this Government is committed to reducing top-down reporting burdens on local government; we would encourage the spread of best practice, especially at the local government level.
	Each of the recipients has also been offered support from the Association of Town and City Management as part of the Government's wider support for the high street and its response to the Portas review into the Future of the High Street.
	Manchester city council has spent the fund engaging with businesses, landlords and individuals or organisations wishing to move onto the high street. They are currently focusing on delivering three exemplar projects, each of which is to be supported with £20,000.
	Ashfield has used the fund on greater use of “meanwhile use” grants to enable local artists, community groups and charities to take up empty shops, and supporting their local markets and traders.

Electoral Register

David Crausby: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the cost to local authorities of (a) implementing individual electoral registration and (b) the requirement for electoral registration officers to write to potentially eligible and unregistered persons inviting them to register;
	(2)  what additional resources will be given by his Department to local authorities for implementation of individual electoral registration.

Chloe Smith: The Government are committed to meeting all additional costs arising from individual electoral registration and I have recently written to all local authority chief executives outlining their allocation for 2013-14 and the next steps towards issuing the more substantial 2014-15 allocations.
	The estimated costs of implementing individual electoral registration, including the cost of inviting all eligible and unregistered persons to register, are outlined in the impact assessment accompanying the Electoral Registration and Administration Act which can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/61328/IER-lmpact-Assessment-090512.pdf

Afghanistan

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total cost was of training the Afghan police forces in 2012.

Andrew Robathan: The total cost of training the Afghan National Police in 2012, is a matter for the Government of Afghanistan. The NATO Training Mission—Afghanistan (NTM-A), supports the Government of Afghanistan in generating and sustaining the Afghan National Security Forces, including the Afghan National Police. It had a total budget of $11.2 billion last year. In 2012, the Law and Order Trust Fund, which supports the payment of Afghan National Police salaries, had a total commitment of around £600 million with the UK contributing £10.5 million.
	The UK channels its direct support for the Afghan National Police through a number of different avenues, predominately multilateral missions. In 2012, the provision of senior and specialist advisors to the EU Police Training Mission to Afghanistan totalled 16 police officers in key positions. We also provided three senior civilian police advisors and 11 military personnel to the NTM-A's policing arm, alongside numerous police advisory teams whose numbers fluctuated throughout the year.
	Today there are 64 military personnel working in Lashkar Gah Training Centre, formerly known as the Helmand Police Training Centre, and 105 UK personnel working in a police advisory function at ANP district/provincial command centres.

Army: Qualifications

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what qualifications are available within two years to those who join the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force at 16;
	(2)  what (a) literacy and (b) numeracy training is required for those who join the (i) Army, (ii) Royal Navy and (iii) Royal Air Force aged 16 years within two years of joining;
	(3)  how many individuals serving in the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force who joined at 16 years do not currently have (i) Level 1 or (ii) Level 2 qualifications in numeracy and literacy;
	(4)  what proportion of those who joined the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force at 16 years old in the last three years did not have literacy and numeracy training to (i) Level 1, (ii) Level 2 and (iii) Level 3;
	(5)  what literacy and numeracy training is mandated in the first two years of service of those who join the (a) Army, (b) Navy and (c) RAF at 16 years old;
	(6)  how many 17 year-olds in the Armed Forces do not have any formal qualifications.

Mark Francois: holding answer 18 April 2013
	Within their first two years of service, personnel enlisted in the armed forces aged 16 will usually have completed phase 1 and phase 2 training and joined the trained strength. All recruits enlisted under 18 who do not hold full level 3 qualifications are enrolled on an apprenticeship scheme unless their trade training attracts higher level qualifications. The qualifications available range from intermediate-level apprenticeships to degrees, depending on the trade specialisation of the individual. In addition, serving members of the armed forces can complete elective learning that results in nationally recognised qualifications.
	The services aim to improve the English and Maths functional skills abilities of all their recruits by at least one national level, and to a minimum of entry level 3 prior to the start of phase 2 training. There are no mandated requirements for the first two years of service. However, all personnel (including those enlisted aged 16) are expected to be qualified to at least level 1 in literacy and numeracy within three years of joining and at level 2 within eight years.
	Data is not available on the total numbers of personnel in each service holding literacy and numeracy qualifications at levels 1 and 2, and those who enlist at age 16 are not tracked as a separate group.
	The Ministry of Defence does not track 17 year olds as a separate group and therefore information is not available on those who do not hold formal qualifications.

Defence: Procurement

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 19 March 2013, Official Report, column 644W, on defence: procurement, if he will list those projects which are funded on an entirely (a) committed and (b) uncommitted basis.

Andrew Robathan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology, the Under-Secretary of State for Defence, my hon. Friend the Member for Ludlow (Mr Dunne), on 19 March 2013, Official Report, column 644W.
	The £159 billion, 10 year Equipment Plan published in January this year, contains funding for specific risks to project delivery totalling £8.4 billion over the decade. For the first time, it also contains £4.8 billion of contingency funding.
	In addition, there is around £8 billion of headroom in the Equipment Plan which is not currently allocated to projects within the core programme.

France

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with their French counterparts on the effect of reductions in defence budgets on the UK-French bilateral relationship.

Andrew Robathan: Defence Ministers regularly discuss Franco-British cooperation with our French counterparts and we have been kept in close touch with the development of the French strategic defence review, the Livre Blanc, and its potential implications. In addition, our ambassador in France has been a member of the Livre Blanc Commission and has been able to contribute to the development of the review.

Revenue and Customs

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what data HM Revenue and Customs (a) publishes and (b) collects but does not publish about incidences of fraud in the public sector.

David Gauke: HMRC publishes a wide range of information about fraud and non-compliance with the tax system. This includes the overall results of compliance activity and revenues gained as a result, general information about successful prosecutions once those have concluded in the courts, and a range of statistical information, including estimates of the tax gap, which includes estimates of the tax lost to fraud. HMRC also provide information in response to requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, in response to letters from hon. Members and others, and in response to questions from hon. Members and noble Lords.
	My hon. Friend can find useful data in the following publications:
	The HMRC Annual report. Most recent iteration for 2011-12 can be found here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/annual-report-and-resource-accounts-2011-12
	The 2012-13 report will be published in due course.
	Measuring Tax Gaps:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/tax-gaps.htm
	Levelling the Playing Field: the most recent update of HMRC compliance performance:
	www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2013/level-tax-playing-field.pdf
	HMRC also publishes the names of deliberate defaulters—people who have received penalties either for:
	Deliberate errors in their tax returns, or
	Deliberately failing to comply with their tax obligations.
	These data are available here:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/defaulters/
	HMRC also collects a wide range of information which it does not publish. The Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 precludes disclosure of information held by HMRC for a function of HMRC, except in certain circumstances set out in the Act. This includes information about the affairs of individual customers, sensitive information held as part of, for example, a criminal investigation, and data underlying published data which are not appropriate to publish in their own right. Other laws which apply to HMRC also prevent publication in certain circumstances. Information held by HMRC is also, in some circumstances, exempt from publication by one or more provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Tax Allowances: Business

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to provide further tax relief for small businesses for the purposes of reducing youth unemployment.

David Gauke: The Government have already taken steps to help small business and tackle youth unemployment.
	Budget 2013 announced that from April 2014 every business and charity will be entitled to a £2,000 employment allowance to reduce their employer national insurance contribution bill each year. This will reduce the costs of employment and support small businesses either hiring their first employee or expanding their workforce.
	The Government remains committed to supporting unemployed people into work through a combination of programmes including the Youth Contract and Work programme for the long term unemployed.

Venture Capital

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of how much (a) has been invested in small and medium-sized enterprises via venture capital trusts since their introduction and (b) he anticipates will be so invested in the future;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of jobs likely to be created in small and medium-sized enterprises as a result of venture capital trust funding over the next five years.

David Gauke: Between 1995-96 and 2011-12 £4.7 billion was raised by venture capital trusts. At least 70% of all funds raised by venture capital trusts are invested in small and medium-sized enterprises.
	HM Revenue and Customs publish National Statistics on the amounts of funds raised by venture capital trusts for each year between 1995-96 and 2011-12.
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/vct/table8-6.pdf
	There are no data available on future trends of investment in small and medium-sized enterprises by venture capital trusts or on the number of jobs that have been created by venture capital trusts.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his policy is on badger cull trials in the UK.

David Heath: The Government has committed, as part of a package of measures, to developing affordable options for a carefully-managed and science-led policy of badger control in areas with high and persistent levels of bovine TB in England.
	Scientific evidence shows conclusively that badgers contribute significantly to bovine TB in cattle. This evidence comes from the randomised badger culling trial.
	The pilots are being carried out to monitor the effectiveness, humaneness and safety of controlled shooting. The monitoring will be overseen by an independent panel of experts, who have advised on the appropriate methods for monitoring effectiveness and humaneness. They will evaluate the pilots before reporting back to Government. Ministers will then decide whether the policy should be rolled out more widely.
	I remain committed to taking forward this evidence-based policy, as part of a wider programme for eradication of bovine TB in England. The Government and NFU continue to plan so that the pilots can go ahead in summer 2013.
	Cattle measures will remain central to the Government's approach, which needs to be comprehensive and risk-based.
	The Government's policy on Bovine TB and badger control in England can be found at the following link and I have placed a copy in the Library of the House.
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/69463/pb13691-bovinetb-policy-statement.pdf

Food Banks

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the increase of food banks across the UK.

David Heath: The Government recognises that rising food prices mean, for many, a greater proportion of household income is being spent on food. There are no official figures for the number of charities providing food aid, including through food banks, or the number of people using food banks in the UK. The provision of food aid ranges from small, local provision through to regional and national schemes. Food banks are a mostly community-led provision responding to local needs. We are not proposing to record the number of food banks, or the potential number of people using them or other types of food aid. To do so would place unnecessary burdens on volunteers trying to help their communities.
	DEFRA has commissioned research to review evidence on the landscape of food provision and access. The work comprises a short research project assessing evidence already publically available on the provision of food aid in the UK. The conclusions of this work will be available in the summer and published on the Government's website.
	We continue to work nationally and internationally to promote open global markets and boost trade, which helps keep food prices at levels that all households in the UK find affordable.

Pollution Control

Angie Bray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what powers are available to local authorities to tackle high levels of pollution in residential areas.

Richard Benyon: Local authorities have a range of powers to tackle high pollution. The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 provide powers in relation to control of emissions from a wide range of industrial activities. The Clean Air Act provides powers in relation to the control of smoke and other emission from commercial and residential sites. Noise and statutory nuisance are controlled by powers under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Noise Act 1996.

Criminal Proceedings

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General on how many occasions a judge or magistrate has refused the admission of bad character or hearsay evidence as a result of late service of the application or the evidence in support in each of the last five years.

Dominic Grieve: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain a central record of the number of times a judge or magistrate has refused the admission of Bad character or Hearsay evidence as a result of late service of the application or the evidence in support. To provide this information would require a manual search of files and incur a disproportionate cost.

Press: Regulation

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 10 April 2013, Official Report, column 1141W, on press: regulation, whether a contribution by guest bloggers to an hon. Member's blog would make that blog subject to the provisions of the new press regulation system.

Edward Vaizey: It is not the Government's intention that the current version of the 'relevant publisher' definition should catch individual bloggers who are acting in the course of a business and who occasionally invite a guest to blog in their place. If a blog is not acting in the course of business it is not caught in any case. However, in order to put this issue beyond doubt, the Government has tabled amendments to the Crime and Courts Bill on 18 April in order to exempt small scale blog sites where they may otherwise be caught by the definition of ‘relevant publisher’. This provides that if you are a multi-authored blog, and you are a microbusiness, defined as an organisation with less than 10 members of staff and that has an annual turnover of no more than £2 million, you are not defined as a ‘relevant publisher’. The Government amendments to the definition of a ‘relevant publisher’, as provided for in the Crime and Courts Bill, was debated in the House of Commons on 22 April.

Disability: Children

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of disabled children living in poverty in Birmingham.

Esther McVey: It is not possible to provide figures for Birmingham due to small sample sizes. In 2010-11 across the UK there were 100,000 disabled children living in families with below 60% of relative median income, before housing costs. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100,000. Low income figures are published annually in the Households below Average Income publication available here:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page==hbai
	The Government launched a consultation on measuring child poverty on 15 November 2012. The consultation sought views on better measurement of child poverty in the UK. The Government believes that, in addition to income, it is important to take other elements into account, such as worklessness, educational failure and poor health. The consultation closed on 15 February 2013. The responses to the consultation are currently being analysed, and the Government's response will be published in the summer.

Independent Living Fund

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what analysis his Department performed on the potential discrimination and human rights effects of those affected as part of the consultation process to close the Independent Living Fund in 2015.

Esther McVey: An equality impact assessment, “Closure of the Independent Living Fund and integration of users into the mainstream care and support system” was published on 18 December 2012 alongside the Government's response to the consultation exercise.
	This Government remains committed to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, including the right to independent living.

Personal Independence Payment

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the potential difficulties in assessing whether people with (a) multiple sclerosis and (b) other fluctuating conditions satisfy the 50 per cent of days rule for personal independence payments; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: We know that assessing fluctuating conditions, including multiple sclerosis, can be difficult. Health professionals, who will conduct the assessments for personal independence payment, are being trained in assessing health conditions that fluctuate. The assessment providers have also been issued with guidance, which details what their health professionals should consider when assessing claimants who have a health condition that fluctuates, and what they should record in their assessment report, including the frequency and duration of fluctuations. We are confident that this will allow health professionals and departmental decision makers to make an informed decision about whether a claimant fulfils a descriptor on the majority of days.
	We recognise the need to ensure that the personal independence payment assessment is operating fairly and as planned, and that it can be amended in light of operational experience. We will be closely monitoring the operation of the assessment, including how it works for claimants with fluctuating conditions such as multiple sclerosis.
	Two independent reviews on the operation of the assessment will be carried out within the first four years of its operation. We intend that the first will be completed by the end of 2014, to allow us to consider its findings and make any necessary changes before the majority of existing DLA recipients begin to be reassessed from October 2015. This will ensure that we can learn the lessons of our early experiences.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what data his Department publishes on fraud in the welfare sector.

Mark Hoban: Estimates of benefit fraud and error overpayments and underpayments, from 2005-06 to 2011-12, are published on the Department's website at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd2/index.php?page=fraud_error
	These are National Statistics and are available at the Great Britain level only. These estimates typically show overpayments and underpayments both as the monetary value of fraud and error and as a percentage of the benefit expenditure paid out in the year. Additional tables are also published showing the percentage of claims overpaid and underpaid for certain benefits, but again at the Great Britain level only
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd2/fem/fem_1112.xls
	Housing Benefits Recoveries and Fraud contains statistics relating to housing benefit fraud volumes and amounts of incorrectly overpaid benefit. It is aggregate level data received on a quarterly basis from each local authority. Data has already been released for each quarter of 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12. This release includes provisional local authority level statistics for Q1 and Q2 of 2012-13 and can be found here:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/hb_ctb/recoveries_and_fraud_data/index.php?page=recoveries_and_fraud_data

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether it is his policy that 80 per cent of universal credit applications should be made online by 2017; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: For jobseekers allowance (JSA), we have a target of 80% of claims being made online by September 2013. Our latest figures show that more than 51% of JSA claims received by the Department are already made online, and we expect the proportion of online claims to build up as people are supported to use the new system. We are using the JSA online experience to prepare for the introduction of universal credit. Our target for universal credit is 80% by the end of 2017.

Electric Vehicles: Motorcycles

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions ministers in his Department have had with the Office of Low Emission Vehicles on electric motorbikes; and what progress has been made on electric motorbikes.

Norman Baker: I have met a senior management delegation of the Electric Motor Cycles Industries Association (eMCI) to discuss the potential role of electric motor cycles in realising our growth and environmental aspirations. I received briefing for this meeting from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles. The meeting was followed up with detailed technical meetings between representatives from the eMCI, motorcycle manufacturers and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles.

Motor Sports

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions ministers and officials in his Department have had with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on support for motorcycle sports.

Stephen Hammond: DCMS had written to my predecessor drawing to his attention the Motorcycle Sport Code of Practice being planned and asking the DfT to support this. I have now given a statement in support of this code of practice. Officials have also corresponded with DCMS about the motor racing on the roads project.

Rescue Services

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on how many occasions the Maritime Rescue Co-Ordination Centre in (a) Stornoway and (b) Belfast was staffed at below risk-assessed levels in March 2013.

Stephen Hammond: The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres (MRCC) at Stornoway and Belfast were staffed below the risk assessed levels in March 2013 on the following number of occasions:
	(a) Belfast 54 occasions out of 62 shifts
	(b) Stornoway 16 occasions out of 62 shifts
	These situations are mitigated by ‘MRCC pairing’ where each MRCC is connected to at least one other MRCC which is available to provide mutual support.
	In respect of Belfast MRCC mutual support is available through a fixed link from Stornoway MRCC and dial up links from the MRCCs at Shetland, Aberdeen, Liverpool or Holyhead. In respect of Stornoway MRCC mutual support is available through a fixed link from Belfast MRCC and dial up links from the MRCCs at Shetland or Aberdeen.

Heating

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many heat pumps he expects to be installed in UK homes by 2020 as a result of (a) the Renewable Heat Incentive and (b) the requirements of Part L of Building Regulations.

Gregory Barker: The most recently published expectation is that 338,000 heat pumps will be installed in UK homes by 2020.
	This figure refers to air-to-water and ground-source heat pumps only; it does not include air-to-air heat pumps, as we did not propose to support these in our consultation on the domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).
	When we published that expectation, it was on the basis of the policy and evidence consulted on at the time, and we projected that 204,000 installations would be as a result of the RHI by 2020/21.
	We are currently updating our baseline figures in light of consultation responses and new evidence we have collected, and as a result of the changes we have made to the timetable for implementing changes to the RHI. We are intending to publish our updated view of the projected number of installations, including those that are adopted as a result of the RHI, this summer.
	Part L of the Building Regulations sets minimum energy performance standards, but does not prescribe specific technologies or heating fuels. The Government is committed to progressively strengthening Part L emissions targets as part of its commitment to Zero Carbon Homes from 2016. Home builders will increasingly need to install low or zero carbon energy sources such, as heat pumps, to meet these higher standards.

Heating

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many heat pumps he expects to be installed in homes by March 2015 as a result of the introduction of the Renewable Heat Incentive.

Gregory Barker: The most recently published expectation is that 16,000 heat pumps will be installed in homes by the end of 2014/15.
	This figure refers to air-to-water and ground-source heat pumps only; it does not include air-to-air heat pumps, as we did not propose to support these in our consultation on the domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).
	When we published our projections, we estimated that 3,000 installations would be as a result of support from the RHI by 2014/15. However, we are currently updating our baseline figures in light of consultation responses and new evidence we have collected, and as a result of the changes we have made to the timetable for implementing changes to the RHI. We are intending to publish our updated view of the projected number of installations, including those that are adopted as a result of the RHI, this summer.

Natural Gas: Lancashire

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many and what proportion of homes in (a) Pendle constituency and (b) Lancashire do not have access to the gas network.

Michael Fallon: The exact number of households off the gas grid is not held centrally.
	Estimates have been produced based on information held from two administrative sources; these are the Gemserv database on the location of electricity meters, and data from xoserve and independent gas transporters on the location of gas meters. Subtracting the number of gas meters from the number of electricity meters produces a broad estimate of the number of off grid properties.
	However some households can have more than one electricity meter associated with their property (for instance, a supply for communal facilities such as stairwell lighting or a lift). Additionally, the standard gas industry definition of domestic use uses a consumption threshold, with any consumer using less than 73,200 kWh of gas per year being classed as a domestic user; it is estimated that—Great Britain wide—this definition allocates around 2 million small business users as domestic. Furthermore a small number of meters (less than one third of one percent) do not have sufficient information associated with them to be able to allocate them to a specific area.
	The underlying data on the number of gas and electricity meters in each local authority are available on the Departments website:
	www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/energy_stats/regional/electricity/electricity.aspx
	www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/energy_stats/regional/gas/gas.aspx
	The following table shows, for 2011, the number of domestic electricity meter points, the number of gas meter points where consumption was less than 73,200kWh, and the difference between the two figures, which forms an estimate of the number of households off the gas grid for each local authority within Lancashire. Also provided are the consumption values for the local authority of Pendle, which covers the same area as the parliamentary constituency of Pendle. A table listing similar data for all local authorities in available in the Libraries of the House.
	The estimated number of households off the gas grid in Pendle is 1,500; in Lancashire as a whole the estimated number is 51,500.
	
		
			 Estimated number of households off the gas grid in Lancashire (2011) 
			 ONS code LAU1 code LAU1 area Number of domestic electricity meters (thousand) Number of domestic gas meters (thousand) Estimated number of households off the gas grid (thousand) Estimated percentage of households off the gas grid 
			 30UJ UKD4306 Pendle 39.4 37.9 1.5 4 
			 Total Lancashire — — 643.9 592.4 51.5 8

Nuclear Power Stations

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether the Government is liable to reimburse EDF for any part of its £1 billion investment in Sizewell in the event of failure to reach agreement on the strike price for nuclear energy; and what estimate he has made of the potential cost of this liability to the public purse.

Michael Fallon: holding answer 18 April 2013
	The negotiations between the Government and NNB Genco (a subsidiary of EDF) on the Hinkley Point C project are progressing on a no commitments basis. No agreement has been reached on terms. Development costs incurred are at EDF's own risk.

Renewable Energy

Robert Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to ensure that independent renewable energy generators are not disadvantaged compared to the larger utilities following implementation of the provisions of the Energy Bill.

Michael Fallon: holding answer 22 April 2013
	In order to meet our energy and climate change commitments, we need to attract significant investment in electricity generation and transmission. The Energy Bill sets out provisions to secure this investment.
	The Government is committed to supporting investment by independent renewable generators. Independent developers have played an important role in delivering new renewable capacity and we expect them to continue to make a material contribution to delivering investment and meeting our targets.
	By removing wholesale price risk, the contracts for difference proposed in the Energy Bill will improve conditions in the market for long-term power purchase agreements needed by many independent renewable developers and consequently provide an improved route to market.
	The Government has been working closely with independent renewables developers and has started a process to ensure that the market is ready for the introduction of the CfD, which will smooth the transition to the new arrangements.
	We are taking powers in the Energy Bill that would enable the Secretary of State to make changes to supply licence conditions if necessary. Furthermore, we are also considering whether additional steps are necessary including consideration of proposals for a Green Power Auction Market.

Renewable Energy

Robert Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what powers he is considering taking to intervene should the long-term power purchase agreement market not improve under contracts for difference for independent renewable energy generators.

Michael Fallon: holding answer 22 April 2013
	By removing wholesale price risk, contracts for difference will improve conditions in the market for power purchase agreements and consequently provide a better route to market for independent renewable energy generators.
	However, the importance of independent generators is such that it. is necessary to take powers in the Energy Bill to give Government the flexibility to act in the case that the market does not develop as expected, or if further steps are needed to improve access for independent renewable generators.
	The powers in the Energy Bill would enable the Government to change supply licence conditions, potentially mandating the way that the large energy companies contract with independent generators.

Apprentices

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many apprenticeships in (a) Barnsley Central constituency, (b) South Yorkshire and (c) England completed in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2012 have led to a permanent job.

Matthew Hancock: We do not collect data which allow us to answer the specific questions.
	However, we do have relevant data from a survey of apprentices (published 15 May 2012) which shows that 85% of apprentices who completed their apprenticeship in the last 12 months were employed by an employer at the time of the survey, with a further 4% being self-employed and a further 3% in education.
	We are not able to break these findings down by electoral constituency or by sub regions (such as South Yorkshire) as the survey is not large enough to do this robustly.
	We do have data for Yorkshire and the Humber which showed that 88% of apprentices who completed within the last 12 months were employed by an employer with a further 4% being self-employed at the time of the survey.
	The numbers of apprenticeship starts in Barnsley Central have increased from 750 in 2009/10 to 1,320 in 2011/12.

Business: Ethnic Groups

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what progress the Government has made in completing its review of access to finance for people from black and minority ethnic communities; when he expects that review to be published; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister commissioned the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) to lead a cross-Government review into the barriers being faced by ethnic minority businesses in accessing finance in November 2011.
	The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ contribution has included work with ethnic minority business groups and stakeholders in the wider banking sector as part of the process of assembling robust analysis and evidence to underpin DCLG's review. The review will be published shortly.

Copyright

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of whether (a) the proposed exception to copyright for private copying will apply to legally downloaded audiovisual works and (b) this conforms with Article 6(4) (4) of the EU Copyright Directive in light of the definition of on-demand services provided in Chapter 1 (B) (6) of the explanatory memorandum to that directive.

Jo Swinson: The proposed exception would apply to all types of copyright work, including audiovisual works. Section 296ZE(9) of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 implements Article 6(4)(4) of the EU Copyright Directive, and is closely modelled on the wording of that directive. Section 2962E(9) applies to the UK's existing copyright exceptions and will apply to any new private copying exception. The Government are currently preparing draft regulations which will implement this exception in accordance with all relevant EU law, including the EU Copyright Directive. The draft regulations will be made available publicly for technical review later in the year.

Copyright

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of whether the inclusion of cloud services within the scope of the proposed exception to copyright for private copying conforms with the three-step test set out in article 5.5 of the EU copyright directive.

Jo Swinson: The Government believes all its proposed measures on copyright exceptions, including the inclusion of cloud storage within the scope of the exception for private copying, will be compatible with the three-step test as set out in article 5.5 of the EU copyright directive. The Government is currently preparing draft regulations and will ensure that these conform with its international obligations, including the three step test. Draft regulations will be made available publicly for technical review later in the year.

Medicine: Research

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the (a) average funding award and (b) average length of project supported through the Technology Strategy Board Biomedical Catalyst Scheme allocation has been for (i) feasibility awards, (ii) early stage awards and (iii) late stage awards to date.

David Willetts: holding answer 22 April 2013
	The average funding award and average project length for Technology Strategy Board supported projects under the Biomedical Catalyst scheme are as follows:
	
		
			  Feasibility Awards Early Stage Awards Late Stage Awards 
			 Average grant award £133,000 £1.5 million £1.5 million 
			 Average duration (months) 10.7 27 26.3 
		
	
	These figures reflect Rounds 1, 2 and 3 for the Feasibility Awards and Rounds 1 and 2 for the Early and Late Stage Awards. Round 3 Early and Late Stage proposals are currently under assessment and awards will be announced by the Technology Strategy Board in July 2013. These figures include Medical Research Council co-funding of academic collaborators in projects.

Medicine: Research

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding has been awarded through the Biomedical Catalyst Scheme through (a) the Technology Strategy Board and (b) the Medical Research Council to date, by (i) feasibility awards, (ii) early stage awards and (iii) late stage awards.

David Willetts: holding answer 22 April 2013
	In total the Biomedical Catalyst scheme has committed £98.51 million to date of which the Technology Strategy Board committed £64.5 million and the Medical Research Council £34.01 million. Breakdown by Feasibility, Early Stage Award and Late Stage Award is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 £ million 
			  Technology Strategy Board Medical Research Council 
			 Feasibility Awards 8 7.41 
			 Early Stage Awards 41.2 20.9 
			 Late Stage Awards 15.3 5.7

Post Offices

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much investment his Department has made in the Post Office network in each of the last 15 years.

Jo Swinson: This Government has committed £1.34 billion over the course of this Parliament to maintain and modernise the Post Office network. As this funding has been publicly announced, this answer provides details for the last 15 financial years (1999/2000 to 2013/14) and also the additional year 2014/15 to the end of the current spending review period.
	Over the period 1999/2000 to 2014/15 the Government will have provided £3.52 billion to restructure, maintain and modernise the network. The following table sets out the payments made to Post Office Ltd for these purposes since 1999/2000. It includes compensation payments to around 5,000 sub-postmasters whose post offices were closed under the closure programmes of the previous Administration.
	The ongoing Network Transformation programme introduces new operating Models—Main and Local—that will help place the Post Office network on a more financially sustainable footing for the future, and reduce its reliance on public subsidy.
	
		
			 £ million 
			  Network subsidy payment Urban reinvention Network change Network transformation Other 
			 2014/15 160 — — 585 — 
			 2013/14 200 — — (1)— — 
			 2012/13 210 — — (1)— — 
			 2011/12 180 — — — — 
			 2010/11 150 — — — — 
			 2009/10 150 — 465 — — 
			 2008/09 150 180 (1)— — — 
			 2007/08 150 (1)— (1)— — — 
			 2006/07 150 (1)— — — — 
			 2005/06 150 (1)— — — — 
			 2004/05 150 (1)— — — 2 
			 2003/04 150 (1)— — — (1)— 
			 2002/03 — — — — (1)— 
			 2001/02 — — — — — 
			 2000/01 — — — — — 
			 1999/2000 — — — — 500 
			 Total 1,790 180 465 585 502 
			 (1) Indicates brace

Redundancy Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) each of the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible received payments under a voluntary exit scheme in each of the last five years; and at what total cost in each such year.

Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) was created on 5 June 2009 via a merger of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) and the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) which ceased to exist from that date. Data on the number and cost of exits under any schemes have been provided from this date.
	
		
			  2011-12 2010-11 2009-10 
			  No. of exits Cost (£) No. of exits Cost (£) No. of exits Cost (£) 
			 BIS—Main Department 237 15,052,792 329 27,169,651 (1)-— (1)-— 
			 BIS—Agencies 67 1,700,971 470 17,257,276 (1)-— (1)-— 
			 BIS—NDPBs 1622 38,840,023 1264 46,798,849 (1)-— (1)-— 
			 Total 1926 55,593,786 2063 91,225,776 35 3,918,988 
			 (1) Prior to 2010-11 only a single consolidated figure was collected and published so a break down of which organisations exits were from is unavailable. Source: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Annual Report and Accounts 2011-12 Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Annual Report and Accounts 2010-11 
		
	
	Data for 2012-13 will be published as part of this year’s Annual Report and Accounts. The civil service compensation scheme was reformed in December 2010. Under the previous terms there could be costs extending for up to 10 years after a departure. The revised terms mean all of the costs now fall within the year of departure. The National Audit Office have estimated that the changes have reduced exit costs by around 40-50% across the whole of the scheme compared to the previous terms. The reformed scheme allows for greater distinction between voluntary and compulsory exits and is designed to encourage voluntary rather than compulsory departures.
	These exit schemes have supported restructuring both within the core Department and BIS partner organisations which will deliver long-term savings.

Trade Promotion

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which hon. Members have been appointed as trade ambassadors by his Department.

Michael Fallon: The Prime Minister's Trade Envoy programme is designed to help promote trade in emerging and growth markets, beyond those already identified in the UKTI strategy. The Trade Envoys prime focus is to showcase to SMEs in the UK foreign opportunities available in ‘their’ markets. Their role include participation in up to four UK-based activities and two overseas trips, which will enhance their credibility in the UK and deepen their knowledge of the country whose opportunities they are profiling.
	The current programme includes the following individuals:
	1. Baroness Bonham Carter of Yarnbury, Trade Envoy to Mexico.
	2. Baroness Morris of Bolton, Trade Envoy to Jordan, Kuwait, Palestinian Territories.
	3. Lord Puttnam of Queensgate, Trade Envoy to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
	4. Lord Risby of Haverhill, Trade Envoy to Algeria.
	5. Baroness Scotland of Asthal, Trade Envoy to South Africa.
	6. Lord Sharman of Redlynch, Trade Envoy to Morocco.
	7. Charles Hendry MP, Trade Envoy to Azerbajan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
	8. Richard Graham MP, Trade Envoy to Indonesia.

UK Research Partnership Investment Fund

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many bids for funding have been received under the second round of the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund.

David Willetts: In October 2012, the Government announced additional funding of £200 million for the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (UKRPIF), to add to £100 million provided in Budget 2012, to enable universities to lever in private sector and charity co-investment into long-term strategic research partnerships. The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), working with counterparts in the Devolved Administrations, is responsible for managing the Fund, for project assessment and all decisions on project selection. HEFCE issued a second call for new and reworked proposals which closed in February. Full details are available at:
	http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/year/2012/201231/#d.en.76055
	HEFCE will provide further details and announce a full list of successful projects in due course.

UK Trade and Investment

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many UK Trade and Investment staff were dismissed for under-performance in 2012.

Michael Fallon: UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) is not an employer in its own right; for the majority of its human resource requirements it draws on civil service staff employed by one or other of its two parent Departments—the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
	No UK-based individuals were dismissed for under- performance in 2012. If individuals are underperforming, they are helped to improve their performance through their parent Department's performance improvement measures prior to any dismissal procedures.

UK Trade and Investment

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what role performance-related pay plays in the remuneration of the Chief Executive of UK Trade and Investment.

Michael Fallon: UKTI is not an employer in its own right; for the majority of its human resource requirements it draws on civil service staff employed by one or other of its two parent Departments—the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
	The chief executive of UKTI is a member of the senior civil service and is part of the normal performance and pay structure for senior civil servants which has been established by the Cabinet Office. The chief executive of UKTI is eligible for base pay increases and performance awards in line with the annual recommendations of the Senior Salaries Remuneration Body.

Vocational Training

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding his Department paid out in total to skills initiatives across the UK in the latest period for which figures are available; which skills initiatives received such financial assistance; and how much was given to each.

Matthew Hancock: The Skills Funding Statement 2012-15, published on 6 December 2012, sets out the funding baseline for the Adult Skills Budget for 2012-13. Details can be found in the finance table of the document, on page 15, at:
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/further-education-skills/docs/s/12-p172-skills-funding-statement-2012-2015.pdf
	This funding relates to England. BIS does not hold details of UK wide funding.

Human Trafficking

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Banbury of 14 February 2013, Official Report, column 866W, on human trafficking, for what reasons he considers the release of the requested information by local authority area to be a threat to victim safety.

Helen Grant: As set out in the inter-departmental ministerial group on human trafficking, published on 18 October 2012, the Government are focusing on improving its collection of data on human trafficking victims to strengthen the UK's response to this. The safety of identified victims is of the utmost importance and publishing further information which puts their rescue in jeopardy is unacceptable.
	Publishing information on the local authority area to which victims have been referred could allow the trafficker to locate them. Additionally it could put the safety of any victims still being held by the trafficker at risk.

Probation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders on supervision by the probation service had (a) mental health issues, (b) learning difficulties, (c) drug addictions or (d) alcohol dependencies in each year since 2008.

Jeremy Wright: The following table shows the number of instances in each financial year since 2008-09 where a full OASys assessment undertaken for an offender at the start of a community sentence, suspended sentence or period on licence supervised by the probation service has identified mental health issues, learning difficulties or criminogenic needs linked to drug or alcohol misuse.
	In the following table “Mental Health Issues” includes offenders assessed as having current psychological problems and/or current psychiatric issues.
	Information is provided on a financial year basis. The latest data available are for 2011-12.
	
		
			 Financial year Mental Health Issues Learning Difficulties Drug Misuse Need Alcohol Misuse Need 
			 2008-09 49,631 17,300 55,165 46,914 
			 2009-10 40,742 14,315 41,460 38,552 
			 2010-11 34,197 11,536 31,234 30,888 
			 2011-12 28,862 9,441 24,881 25,153 
		
	
	The above figures have been produced from data on completed OASys assessments, held centrally by the National Offender Management Service.
	A full OASys assessment is not required with all offenders. OASys data should not therefore be read as representative of the entire probation case load and care should be taken in generalising the results.
	The data are drawn from administrative IT systems and the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale assessment and recording system. Several quality assurance procedures are in place to ensure the data produced is accurate and reliable.

Sentencing: EU Nationals

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many EU but non-UK nationals received sentences of two or more years in each of the last five years in (a) Gloucester and (b) England; and how many such nationals were (i) recommended for deportation, (ii) deported and (iii) not deported.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database holds information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales. This database holds information on offences provided by the statutes under which proceedings are brought but not all the specific circumstances of each case. It is not possible to identify from this centrally held information the nationality of offenders given a custodial sentence following a conviction.
	Prison data held centrally do include the nationality of offenders, and the following table shows the number of non-UK EU nationals received into prison under sentence in England and Wales in 2008, 2009, 2011 and January to September 2012 (full calendar year 2012 data are not yet available; 2010 data are not available). However, it is not possible to break these figures down for (a) Gloucester and (b) England as offender address information is not held in this database.
	Under the Immigration Act 1971 the court retains the power to recommend deportation when conditions providing for automatic deportation specified in the UK Borders Act 2007 arc not fulfilled. When the court makes a recommendation that the individual should be considered for deportation this is recorded on the relevant case management systems used in the magistrates and Crown courts. However, this information is not held centrally by the Ministry of Justice on either court proceedings or prison data.
	The Ministry of Justice does not keep records on foreign national criminals who are successfully deported or who were subject to deportation orders that were not successful. This is a matter for the Home Secretary.
	
		
			 Sentenced receptions of EU nationals by sentence length, January 2008 to September 2012(1), England and Wales 
			 Sentence length 2008 2009 2011 Jan to Sep 2012 
			 Two years or more 669 791 831 699 
			 (1) Data for 2010 not available. 
		
	
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Telephone Services

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 22 March 2013, Official Report, column 840W, on telephone services, whether a UK landline number beginning with 01, 02 or 03 is publicly available as an alternative to the 0800, 0844, 0845 and 0870 numbers in use by his Department and the agencies for which he is responsible.

Helen Grant: As stated in the Department's answer of 22 March 2013, Official Report, column 840W, the Department's general approach is not to use 084 or 087 for non-geographic numbers and instead, wherever possible, to assign 0300 numbers, for which the tariff is similar to calling an 01 or 02 (geographic) number, whether the caller is using a fixed line or a mobile phone. The Department currently uses forty-one 0300 numbers.
	Non-geographic numbers allow the Department to move the geographical location of enquiry-points without incurring associated telephony costs for administration, publication of new numbers, redirection from previous numbers, etc., and also avoiding possible disruption to services.
	There are no 01 02 or 03 numbers publicly available as an alternative to the 0800, 0844, 0845 and 0870 numbers in use by the Department and its agencies.

Developing Countries: Vaccination

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much her Department has spent vaccinating children in the developing world since 2010; and how many vaccinations this amounts to.

Alan Duncan: DFID has spent over £500 million on direct support to vaccinating children in developing countries since 2010. This includes £122.9 million to the International Finance Facility for Immunisation; £18 million to the Measles Rubella Initiative (MRI); £120 million to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI); £182 million to GAVI Alliance; and £62.3 million for the Pneumococcal Vaccines Advanced Market Commitment.
	Through our commitment to the GAVI Alliance alone, UK funding has supported the immunisation of over 20 million children in 2010 and 2011. In 2012, MRI vaccinated 48 million children against measles, 15 million of whom were vaccinated with UK funding. In 2012, GPEI supported more than 2 billion doses of oral polio vaccine (OPV) to be administered to more than 429 million children, 24 million of whom were reached through UK funding. The UK has also contributed to a number of emergency responses, for example the UK recently provided £1.8 million to the World Health Organisation appeal in order to contain the outbreak of yellow fever in Darfur, which helped 2 million people to be immunised.

Official Hospitality

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many officials in (a) her Department and (b) the non-departmental public body for which she is responsible claimed reimbursements for working lunches and official entertainment in each of the last five years; and what the total cost was in each such year.

Alan Duncan: DFID's financial records do not enable identification of the number of officials claiming reimbursement, for working lunches and official entertainment, without incurring disproportionate cost.
	The central finance records show the following levels of expenditure charged to entertainment and hospitality for the last five years. This includes reimbursements and amounts paid directly to suppliers for costs associated with this category of expenditure.
	
		
			  Amount (£) 
			 2008-09 312,662.41 
			 2009-10 330,641.30 
			 2010-11 211,544.85 
			 2011-12 226,677.27 
			 2012-13 82,437.47

Redundancy Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many officials in (a) her Department and (b) non-departmental public body for which she is responsible received payments under a voluntary exit scheme in each of the last five years; and at what total cost in each such year.

Alan Duncan: The table shows the number and costs of voluntary exits within DFID over the last five years. The figures for 2012-13 will be published as part of the Annual Report and Accounts. Voluntary exits include all non-compulsory paid departures.
	The compensation scheme was reformed in 2010 and all of the costs now fall within the year of departure, which differs from the previous scheme.
	
		
			  Number of departures Cost (£ million) 
			 2007-08 95 £7.315 
			 2008-09 17 £2.218 
			 2009-10 53 £4.479 
			 2010-11 37 £2.668 
			 2011-12 69 £3.486 
			 Note: The figures do not include exits by resignation. 
		
	
	There have been no voluntary exits in our non-departmental public bodies over this period.

Absent Parents

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department is taking to re-establish contact between absent fathers and their children.

Edward Timpson: The Government is currently taking forward legislation, via the Children and Families Bill, to strengthen the expectation that children will maintain a relationship with both their parents following separation or divorce. One of the aims of the parental involvement clause in the Bill is to send a clear signal that parents remain jointly responsible for their children when families separate.
	We are also introducing a range of non-legislative measures to support separated parents in resolving disputes and reaching amicable agreements about their children's care. A package of support, which includes improved information, advice and targeted interventions such as mediation and parenting programmes, is currently being developed to help separated parents focus on the needs of their children and improve communication with their former partner. Parents will also receive support in completing a parenting agreement as part of the dispute resolution process. Parenting agreements will not be legally binding, but they will help parents to establish care arrangements which are practical, realistic and in the best interests of their children.

Children in Care: Protection

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  whether it is a requirement that enhanced disclosure checks are carried out on any adult male who offers a home to a child in the care of a local authority; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will provide guidelines to chief constables on the responsibilities and assessment process of older men who offer accommodation to young girls in the care system; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: A person who looks after a child in the care of a local authority within their own home must be approved as a foster carer (unless they have parental responsibility for the child). Before a fostering service may approve a person of any sex as a foster carer, they must obtain an enhanced disclosure check with respect to that person and any of their household members aged 18 or over.
	There are no guidelines to chief constables on the responsibilities and assessment process of older men who accommodate young girls within the care system. This is because the assessment, approval, supervision and development of foster carers are the responsibility of fostering services, rather than the constabulary. The assessment and approval of foster carers of any age or sex in England is regulated by the Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011. In Wales it is regulated by the Fostering Services (Wales) Regulations 2003.

Children: Day Care

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what academic advice his Department has commissioned on childcare since January 2011; and if he will place in the Library copies of any such reports.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education has commissioned the following research studies on childcare since January 2011:
	(1) Grandparents Providing Childcare—a review of research evidence and statistical data on grandparents providing childcare. This review was carried out by the Childhood Wellbeing Research Centre and a report was published in November 2011.
	(2) International Comparison of Qualifications and Training Required for Entry into the Early Years Profession. This rapid review of evidence was carried out by the Childhood Wellbeing Research Centre. A copy of this report will be placed in the Library.
	(3) The Costs of Childcare—analysis of the current comparative international literature and data on the affordability of childcare to parents. This review was carried out by the Childhood Wellbeing Research Centre. A copy of this report will be placed in the Library upon publication.
	(4) A comparison of international childcare systems. This review was carried out by the Centre for Research in Early Childhood. A copy of the report will be placed in the Library upon publication.
	(5) Parent's views and experiences of childcare—a survey of parents to inform the commission on childcare. This survey was undertaken by IPSOS MORI. A copy of this report will be placed in the Library upon publication.
	(6) Childcare sufficiency and sustainability in disadvantaged areas. This research was carried out by the National Centre for Social Research and was published in December 2012.
	(7) Exploring the flexibility of the free entitlement. This research was undertaken by IPSOS MORI and was published in June 2012.
	(8) Childcare Provider Finances Survey. This research was undertaken by TNS-BMRB and was published in May 2012.
	(9) Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents. This research is undertaken by IPSOS MORI and the 2011 survey was published on 31st January 2013.
	(10) Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey. This research is undertaken by TNS-BMRB and the latest 2011 survey was published in September 2012.
	(11) Early Education Pilot for Two Year Old Children: Age Five Follow-up. This research is undertaken by the National Centre for Social Research and was published in March 2013.
	(12) Evaluation of Early Education in England. This research will provide an assessment of the effectiveness of the current early education model in England, updating evidence from the highly influential Effective Provision of Pre-school Education (EPPE) study from 1997. A copy of this report will be placed in the Library upon publication.
	Copies of the above research reports which have been published will be placed in the House Libraries. Reports not yet published will be placed in the House Libraries upon publication. In addition, a number of other organisations undertook activities to support and inform the work of the commission, including the National Day Nurseries Association, The Daycare Trust, 4Children, Netmums, and the National Children's Bureau.

Children: Social Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education on the basis of what experience and qualifications Professor Julian Le Grand has been appointed to review the structure and governance arrangements of Doncaster's children's social care services.

Edward Timpson: Professor Le Grand, Richard Titmuss Professor of Social Policy at the London School of Economics, is an eminent social policy academic, independent and with a strong understanding of alternative forms of social policy delivery. He will be supported in his review by Alan Wood, Director of Children's Services for the London borough of Hackney, who has expertise in the delivery of education and children's services directly for a local authority and via an independent Trust arrangement.

Children: Social Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the reasons were for the time taken to bring forward the measures he has announced in his recent direction to Doncaster regarding children's social care services.

Edward Timpson: The nature and extent of the failings in children's social care in Doncaster are serious and longstanding. It is more important, therefore; to take the time to get any intervention right, than to rush into measures which may have less chance of success. The Secretary of State for Education and I have therefore consulted the right hon. Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband), the right hon. Member for Doncaster Central (Ms Winterton), and the right hon. Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint), in considering these steps. Departmental officials have also been in close touch with Doncaster council.

Class Sizes: Birmingham

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the average class size was for (a) secondary and (b) primary schools in Birmingham, Selly Oak constituency in each of the last three years.

David Laws: The number of pupils in state-funded mainstream primary schools in England, including information on class sizes, is published as part of the Statistical First Release 'Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics, January 2012'.
	The average class size for state-funded mainstream primary and secondary schools in the Birmingham, Selly Oak constituency is given in the following table.
	
		
			  2010 2011 2012 
			 Primary 27.6 27.8 27.2 
			 Secondary 19.9 20.0 19.3 
			 Source: School Census, January 2010, January 2011 and January 2012

Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Children Review

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what progress his Department has made on its stocktake of implementation of the Bailey Review of the Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Childhood; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  will consider bringing forward legislative proposals to implement the recommendations of the Bailey Review of the Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Childhood.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when the Government will publish its findings from the stocktake on progress on implementation of the Bailey Review of the Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Childhood; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: Good progress has been made on implementing the recommendations made in Reg Bailey's report, ‘Letting Children be Children’. The recommendations were directed mainly at businesses and regulators and they have responded positively.
	We expect to publish a full report on progress shortly and to say what further action we would like to see taken to tackle the excessive commercialisation and premature sexualisation of childhood, and what action we will take.

Curriculum

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he plans to encourage schools to introduce economics and business studies in Key Stage 3.

Elizabeth Truss: We have no plans to encourage maintained secondary schools actively to teach subjects that are not part of the existing statutory curriculum. As part of the current review of the national curriculum, we announced on 7 February our decision that the existing subjects at key stages 3 and 4 will continue to be statutory in future. We are, however, slimming down the national curriculum by prescribing much shorter programmes of study for subjects beyond primary English, mathematics and science. The aim is to create more freedom for schools to design their own wider curricula which best meet the needs of their students. It is, therefore, open to schools to teach economics or business studies at key stage 3 should they wish to do so.

Curriculum

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether additional funding for continuing professional development and classroom resources will be available to implement the new National Curriculum.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 22 April 2013
	The Government believes that schools are best placed to decide which teaching resources and professional development meet their needs to ensure successful implementation of the new curriculum, and to secure these accordingly. We therefore expect schools to identify their priorities for action and spending, building on current areas of strength, and to identify appropriate sources of support.
	We recognise that some priorities will be common to many schools. To assist with this we are working with subject experts, publishers, educational suppliers and others to identify what support for schools is already in place and any gaps that need to be filled, and how that might be done.
	We are also ensuring that existing opportunities funded by Government meet the needs of the new national curriculum. For example, the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) has recently released free video training materials focused on calculation. Matched funding of £3,000 for phonics materials and training has been extended until October 2013. In March we announced £150 million per year of ring-fenced funding for primary school sport.

History: Curriculum

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which definition and measurement of progression his Department used to construct the proposed orders for history for Key Stages 1 to 3.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 22 April 2013
	In accordance with the remit for the review of the national curriculum in England, the proposed programmes of study for history set out, by key stage, the essential knowledge and skills that should be taught to all pupils attending maintained schools.
	In order to address weaknesses that have been highlighted in pupils' chronological understanding, not least by Ofsted, the programmes of study suggest that subject content should be taught as a coherent chronological narrative, particularly at key stage 2 and key stage 3. They also include a clearly stated expectation that, by the end of those key stages, pupils should know, apply and understand the content specified therein.

Parents: Marriage

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  whether his Department has commissioned or conducted research into whether children are more successful in (a) education and (b) other areas of life if they are raised by parents who are married;
	(2)  whether his Department has commissioned or conducted research into whether parents are more likely to stay together if they are married.

Edward Timpson: holding answer 22 April 2013
	The Department has not commissioned or conducted research into child outcomes for children raised by parents who are married or into whether parents are more likely to stay together if they are married. There is, however, significant existing research and evidence in this area.
	From existing research we know that the children of married parents do better than the children of cohabiting parents, particularly on measures of social and emotional development at the ages of three and five(1). However, these differences could be due to the fact that those who choose to marry and remain married often have other characteristics, such as greater wealth and a higher level of education, which support them in their parenting.
	We also know from existing studies that relationship stability is stronger among married couples(2) and that married adults have better physical and emotional wellbeing than those who are divorced(3). The evidence also shows, however, that relationships must be of high quality to result in positive health outcomes. Health outcomes for single people are for instance more positive than for those reporting unhappy marriages. Studies show that good couple relationships of any kind lead to better mental and physical health for all involved(4).
	(1) Crawford C., Goodman A., Greaves E. and Joyce R. (2011) Cohabitation, marriage, relationship stability and child outcomes; an update. London. Institute for Fiscal Studies.
	(2) Benson H. (2010) Family breakdown in the UK it's NOT about divorce. Bristol: Bristol Community Family Trust.
	(3) Lynas, P, Trend, M, Ashcroft, J, and Caroe, P (2008) When Relationships Go Wrong—Counting the cost of family failure. Relationships Foundation.
	(4) Coleman, L, and Glenn, G., 2009. When Couples part: understanding the consequences for adults and children. London: One Plus One.

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what criteria are used in (a) his Department and (b) each public body for which he is responsible to determine which officials receive bonus payments.

Elizabeth Truss: The senior civil service are assessed against their objectives and against Cabinet Office definitions. In identifying exceptional and top performers we will be paying particular attention to the following:
	active contribution to the DFE review;
	the efforts made to identify and implement improvements to processes and/or policies across the Department;
	evidence of being highly effective in managing, championing and dealing with change;
	the difficulty and size of job;
	evidence of consistently high levels of delivery and a sustained and demonstrable commitment to getting the basics right (including proper attention to detail);
	evidence of creative approaches to problem-solving/breaking down barriers to delivery;
	whether the individual commands the absolute confidence of Ministers and the board;
	whether they have delivered within budget and managed/mitigated risk effectively;
	the engagement and performance of the individual's staff; and
	implementing the performance management system to support the identification of talent and rigorous management of poor performers, with the expectation that top performers must demonstrate excellence in management.
	Staff below SCS will be assessed based on the guidance for the ratings. Exceptional and top performers will have consistently exceeded their objectives and demonstrated that:
	they have actively engaged with the DFE review;
	they have made efforts to identify and implement improvements to processes and/or policies across the Department;
	they are fully engaged in dealing with change (for managers this includes understanding and explaining the need for change);
	they can work effectively and independently and without support to exceed expectations when delivering ministerial business (demonstrating a creative and imaginative approach, actively seeking opportunities and rising to the challenge);
	they have a strong, corporate commitment and are prepared to go above and beyond the call of duty when necessary to ensure departmental priorities are met successfully;
	they deploy resources to maximum effect ensuring attention to detail, mitigating and managing risks effectively and are proactive in overcoming obstacles that could not be foreseen;
	they demonstrate a commitment to and excellence in people and relationship management, acting as an exemplar for others through their work, behaviour and relationships, with a strong commitment to equality and diversity (achieving a high level of performance from a wide range of people, e.g. staff, colleagues, partners);
	they demonstrate competence above expectations in all the skill areas required for their post and exemplifying the civil service ‘4 Ps’ of Pride, Passion, Pace and Professionalism;
	they demonstrate a strong commitment to improving their own performance and to continuous personal development; and
	implementing the performance management system to support the identification of talent and rigorous management of poor performers, with the expectation that top performers must demonstrate excellence in management.

Schools: Leadership

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many Specialist Leaders of Education were in post on 1 January 2013.

David Laws: holding answer 17 April 2013
	The number of specialist leaders of education designated on 1 January 2013 was 1,955.

Social Networking

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether his Department's (a) computers or (b) mobile telephones have been used to (i) update and (ii) maintain the @toryeducation education Twitter account.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department does not routinely monitor twitter usage beyond its official account (@educationgov). The Observer has made unsubstantiated allegations that employees of the Department contribute to or control the @toryeducation twitter feed. Despite repeated requests for evidence to substantiate these allegations (from the Permanent Secretary, from the Cabinet Secretary, and from the Secretary of State), no evidence has been provided. If it were to be provided, we would of course look at it and decide on the appropriate next steps.

Social Networking

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will hold discussions with his special advisers to ensure they are not responsible for the (a) updating and (b) maintenance of the @toryeducation Twitter account.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 17 April 2013
	The Observer has made unsubstantiated allegations that employees of the Department contribute to or control the @toryeducation twitter feed. Despite repeated requests for evidence to substantiate these allegations (from the Permanent Secretary, from the Cabinet Secretary and from the Secretary of State), no evidence has been provided. If it were to be provided, we would of course look at it and decide on the appropriate next steps.

Social Networking

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  whether he has authorised the giving of information to the Twitter account @toryeducation; and whether he is aware of (a) his special advisers and (b) officials in his Department doing so;
	(2)  whether his Department has held any inquiries on information being passed from his Department to the author of the @toryeducation Twitter account.

Elizabeth Truss: The Observer has made unsubstantiated allegations that employees of the Department contribute to or control the @toryeducation twitter feed. Despite repeated requests for evidence to substantiate these allegations (from the Permanent Secretary, from the Cabinet Secretary, and from the Secretary of State), no evidence has been provided. If it were to be provided, we would of course look at it and decide on the appropriate next steps.

Clinical Commissioning Groups

Therese Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the 2013-14 funding allocations to clinical commissioning groups are on a per capita basis by (a) parliamentary constituency, (b) administrative county and (c) region.

Daniel Poulter: Per capita figures on clinical commissioning group allocations are not available by parliamentary constituency because the boundaries are different from those of clinical commissioning groups. A document showing per capita allocations for 2013-14 for those upper tier and unitary local authorities which are .coterminous with a clinical commissioning group has been placed in the Library. Clinical commissioning group 2013-14 per capita allocations by region are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Clinical commissioning group per capita allocations by region 2013-14 
			  2013-14 clinical commissioning group allocations per capita (£) 
			 North East 1,315 
			 North West 1,244 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 1,190 
			 West Midlands 1,113 
			 East Midlands 1,077 
			 East of England 1,055 
			 London 1,119 
			 South East 1,074 
			 South West 1,432 
			   
			 England 1,435 
		
	
	
		
			 Notes: 1. Regions do not fully correspond to Government office regions or Office for National Statistics regions due different boundaries. 2. Allocations are made to CCGs. The regional figures are the average for the CCG in each region. 3. Per capita figures are based on the number of patients registered with general practitioner practices in each CCG. 4. CCG allocations are not comparable to primary care trust allocations due to different commissioning responsibilities. 5. CCG allocations were published on 18 December 2012. They may be subject to revision due to baseline changes. 6. CCG allocations published on 18 December 2012 exclude running cost allowances which were calculated on a different basis. Source: NHS England

Horses: Slaughterhouses

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 11 February 2013, Official Report, column 521W, on horses: slaughterhouses, how many horses have been slaughtered in (a) total and (b) each abattoir in the UK in each of the last five months for which figures are available.

Anna Soubry: The Food Standards Agency records the number of solipeds (a mammal having a single hoof on each foot, including horses, hinnies, mules and asses) slaughtered in the United Kingdom.
	The following table provides details on the total number of solipeds slaughtered in the last five months, for which figures are available. The majority of animals will be horses:
	
		
			 Month Number of solipeds slaughtered in the United Kingdom 
			 November 2012 890 
			 December 2012 655 
			 January 2013 488 
			 February 2013 382 
			 March 2013 600 
		
	
	Details of the number of horses slaughtered in each of the abattoirs in each of the last five months, has not been provided as to release such information would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of the abattoirs concerned.

Maternity Services

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 20 March 2013, Official Report, column 715W, on maternity services: Northamptonshire, and with reference to the announcement by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health on 24 January 2013 that more than 100 hospitals will share a £25 million fund to improve their maternity units, what his Department's role is in the co-ordination, planning and announcement of (a) improvements and (b) other changes to maternity services.

Daniel Poulter: From 1 April 2013, the Department's role is to create national policies and provide the long-term vision and ambition to meet current and future challenges in maternity services. The Department secures resources, sets national priorities and holds the health and social care system to account on behalf of the Secretary of State for Health.
	Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for commissioning maternity services locally that improve choice of place of birth, continuity of care and women's experience of care. It is for CCGs, working with local authorities through health and wellbeing boards, and in conjunction with provider partners, to identify where and how maternity services can be improved. NHS England has developed a maternity commissioning resource pack for CCGs. NHS England will also enable these local discussions and processes to happen and will respond proactively to CCGs when they require support to reshape services.
	Reconfiguration of front line maternity services should be locally-led and clinically-driven. The underlying rationale for any reconfiguration should be that changes deliver a real improvement in quality and outcomes for patients. The guiding principles for national health service reconfigurations are. that schemes should have support from clinical commissioners, clarity on the clinical evidence base, robust patient and public engagement and support for patient choice.

Midwives

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to (a) update Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications and (b) a minimum (i) number of hours of training for midwives and (ii) proportion of training for midwives that must be clinical practice.

Daniel Poulter: The Directive on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications is under review by the European Commission and includes amendments relating to the training of midwives. The Department is working closely with the Department for Business Innovation and Skills and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office during negotiations, which are set to conclude from mid-2013. The United Kingdom has been an active member of the European Council Working Groups to develop the proposals, and the Department has worked closely with the key national groups affected by the issue.

NHS: Legal Costs

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the NHS has spent on compensation, litigation and legal fees since May 2010.

Daniel Poulter: The NHS Litigation Authority (NHS LA) provided the following data in respect of payments that it has made in relation to litigation between May 2010 and March 2012. Audited data is not yet available for April 2012 to March 2013.
	
		
			  £000 
			 Damages paid 1,556,716 
			 Claimant costs 464,697 
			 Defence costs 143,341 
			 Source: NHS Litigation Authority, April 2013 
		
	
	Firstly, it should be noted that some of the payments relate to incidents that occurred prior to May 2010 rather than wholly incidents that occurred during the period. Additionally, the damages, claimant legal costs and defence legal costs will cover a different cohort of claims.
	The data only covers claims made against members of the NHS indemnity schemes, which primarily cover clinical negligence, employers' and public liabilities. The non-clinical scheme also operates ‘excess’ levels, with claims below excess funded by individual members. Data therefore only represents expenditure by the NHS LA under these schemes.

NHS: Temporary Employment

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to ensure that NHS trusts granted funding to employ contract staff under Agenda for Change honour the contracts they enter into with (a) contracted staff and (b) the companies who recruit them; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: Employers have the freedom to determine the terms and conditions including pay for the staff they employ. It is right that employers locally, not government, make their own decisions about the employment contracts that enable them to recruit and retain the caring staff the national health service needs. Employers cannot change employment contracts unilaterally; they must consult their staff and or staff representatives and seek agreement.
	All employers are expected to meet their obligations under employment law, including those under the transfer of undertaking (protection of employment) regulations.

Nurses

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the current availability of (a) school nurses, (b) health visitors and (c) community children's nurses is in each local authority area.

Daniel Poulter: The Non-Medical Workforce Census, published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre, shows that as of 30 September 2012 there were 21,443 full time equivalent qualified school nurses, health visitors, and children's nursing staff employed by the national health service in England.
	The full breakdown of the numbers is by strategic health authority area, and by organisation, with the overall numbers of children's nurses being 11,883, health visitors 8,386 and school nurses 1,174 has been placed in the Library.
	It is important to note that it is currently impossible to isolate the true numbers of community children's nurses (CCNs) from the overall number of children's nurses in the workforce census data. Current guidance suggests that the numbers of CCNs be included with the numbers of children's nurses who work primarily within acute settings.

Polypropylene

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on the use of (a) TVT, TVT-O and TOT medical devices and (b) other medical devices using surgical polypropylene synthetic mesh.

Norman Lamb: The Mandate to NHS England requires it to deliver continued improvements in relation to helping people recover from episodes of ill health or following injury.
	There are wide varieties of surgical treatments that have been developed using polypropylene synthetic mesh as a medical device.
	The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced a clinical guideline on the use of vaginal tapes for stress urinary incontinence. Further guidance on the use of vaginal meshes for pelvic organ prolapse is set out in a series of interventional procedure guidance notes.
	The NHS England National Medical Director, Sir Bruce Keogh, wrote to all national health service surgeons and medical directors in November 2012 to raise their awareness of the NICE guidance on the use of these devices and gain their support in making surgery using vaginal tapes and meshes as safe and effective as possible.

Polypropylene

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints there have been to date to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency about the use of (a) TVT, TVT-O and TOT medical devices and (b) other medical devices using surgical polypropylene synthetic mesh.

Norman Lamb: Departmental and Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency records indicate that to date there have been 24 items of correspondence complaining about the use of TVT, TVT-O and TOT medical devices and three relating to other medical devices using surgical polypropylene synthetic mesh.